Kuwait SC has it easy against East Bengal

Kuwait SC completely ousted Kingfisher East Bengal at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata in the second leg of the AFC Cup semi-final tie to march on to the final of the tournament. They beat East Bengal by a comprehensive margin of 3-0 leaving the home crowd absolutely disappointed.

Kuwait fielded a team without their star striker Jemma. Yet they did not find it too much difficult to score for three times. They played with controlled aggression and made use of the mistakes committed by the East Bengal players. Their Brazilian recruit R Coutinho played some brilliant football as none of the East Bengal defenders could cope up with his pace, strength and anticipation. He opened the scoring for the visitors, minutes before the half time which meant East Bengal needed 3 goals to win this tie which was quite an improbable task. The Kuwait outfit added yet another goal seconds before the half time whistle. The drama was not yet over as one of the Kuwait players kicked Uga Okpara unnecessarily only to get the marching orders from the referee. The visitors played the rest of the match with 10 men but they never let the home team get a clear opportunity to score. They added the third one very late in the match through their defender much to the despair of the home crowd.

However the match did not start in the same manner as it ended. East Bengal began the proceedings in the first half with real intent as they got a corner kick as early as in the very first minute of the match. But as time went on the Kuwait got hold of the match and East Bengal players were left clueless on the field. In the second half Lalrindika Ralte and Cavin Lobo tested the keeper from distance but the home team lacked the quality to compete against such a strong opponent. The final nail in the East Bengal coffin was put when defender Arnab Mondal was given the marching orders for holding on Coutinho from the back and denying him a clear goal-scoring opportunity as he was completely outfoxed by the Brazilian.

Though East Bengal lost the match, the players had a lot of positives to take from this game. It was a great experience for the young players like Dika, Lobo, and Abhishek Das playing in such a big stage. This is surely not the end of the road for East Bengal; rather this long run in this edition of the tournament could well encourage the team for a better performance in coming years.

• About the Author

About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.